34 C.F.R. §§ 222.39–222.40

2 sections in range

§222.39. How does a State educational agency identify generally comparable local educational agencies for local contribution rate purposes?

34 C.F.R. § 222.39

(a)

To identify generally comparable LEAs within its State for LCR purposes, the State educational agency (SEA) for that State, after appropriate consultation with the applicant LEAs in the State, shall use data from the third fiscal year preceding the fiscal year for which the LCR is being computed to group all of its LEAs, including all applicant LEAs, as follows:

(1)

Grouping by grade span/legal classification alone. Divide all LEAs into groups that serve the same grade span and then subdivide the grade span groups by legal classification, if the Secretary considers this classification relevant and sufficiently different from grade span within the State. As an alternative grade-span division, divide all LEAs into elementary, secondary, or unified grade-span groups, as appropriate, within the State.

(2)

Grouping by grade span/legal classification and size.

(i)

Divide all LEAs into groups by grade span (or the alternative grade-span groups described in paragraph (a)(1) of this section) and legal classification, if relevant and sufficiently different from grade span and size.

(ii)

List all LEAs within each group in descending order by size as measured by ADA, placing the LEA with the largest ADA at the top of the list. A State that does not tabulate actual annual ADA shall use the same formula for establishing ADA for the purpose of ranking LEAs by size as the Department has approved for the purpose of calculating payments under section 8003 for applicant LEAs in the State.

(iii)

Divide each group into either two subgroups or three subgroups.

(iv)

To determine the subgroups, divide each list at the point(s) that will result in as nearly equal numbers of LEAs in each subgroup as possible, so that no group is more than one LEA larger than any other group.

(3)

Grouping by grade span/legal classification and location. Divide all LEAs into groups by grade span (or the alternative grade-span groups described in paragraph (a)(1) of this section) and, if relevant and sufficiently different from grade span and location, legal classification; then subdivide these groups by location, as determined by placement inside or outside a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) as defined by the U.S. Bureau of the Census. The Department will supply SEAs with lists of MSA classifications for their LEAs, and only the classifications on those lists will be recognized by the Department for the purposes of these regulations.

(4)

Grouping by grade span/legal classification, size, and location.

(i)

Divide all LEAs into groups by grade span (or the alternative grade-span groups described in paragraph (a)(1) of this section) and, if relevant and sufficiently different from grade span, size, and location, legal classification; then subdivide these groups by size (into two or three subgroups for each grade span, as described in paragraph (a)(2) of this section); and further subdivide these groups by location (inside or outside an MSA).

(ii)

In using both the size and location factors, the SEA shall subdivide according to the size factor before the location factor.

(b)

After applying the following restrictions, the SEA shall compute an LCR according to the provisions of § 222.41 for each group of generally comparable LEAs identified under paragraph (a) of this section, as follows:

(1)

The SEA shall not, when computing an LCR, include the following “significantly impacted” LEAs in any group of generally comparable LEAs:

(i)

Any LEA having— in the third fiscal year preceding the fiscal year for which the LCR is being computed—20 percent or more of its ADA composed of children identified under section 8003(a)(1)(A)-(C).

(ii)

Any LEA having— in the third fiscal year preceding the fiscal year for which the LCR is being computed—50 percent or more of its ADA composed of children identified under section 8003(a)(1)(A)-(G) who were eligible under § 222.36 to be counted as the basis for payment under section 8003.

(2)

The SEA may not compute an LCR for any group that contains fewer than 10 LEAs.

(c)

The LCR for a “significantly impacted” LEA described in paragraph (b)(1) of this section is the LCR of any group in which that LEA would be included based on grade span/legal classification, size, location, or a combination of these factors, if the LEA were not excluded as significantly impacted.

(d)

This section does not apply to applicant LEAs located in—

(1)

Puerto Rico;

(2)

Wake Island;

(3)

Guam;

(4)

American Samoa;

(5)

Any outlying area; and

(6)

Any State in which there is only one LEA.

Notes, amendments, and revision history

Amendments

[60 FR 50778, Sept. 29, 1995, as amended at 80 FR 33163, June 11, 2015]

Authority

Authority: 20 U.S.C. 7701-7714; Pub. L. 111-256, 124 Stat. 2643; unless otherwise noted.

Source

Source: 60 FR 50778, Sept. 29, 1995, unless otherwise noted.

Amendments

[60 FR 50778, Sept. 29, 1995, as amended at 80 FR 33163, June 11, 2015]

§222.40. What procedures does a State educational agency use for certain local educational agencies to determine generally comparable local educational agencies using additional factors, for local contribution rate purposes?

34 C.F.R. § 222.40

(a)

To use the procedures in this section, the applicant LEA, for the year of application, must either—

(1)

(i)

Be located entirely on Federal land; and

(ii)

Be raising either no local revenues or an amount of local revenues the Secretary determines to be minimal; or

(2)

(i)

Be located in a State where State aid makes up no more than 40 percent of the State average per pupil expenditure in the third fiscal year preceding the fiscal year for which the LCR is being computed;

(ii)

In its application, have federally connected children identified under section 8003(a)(1)(A)-(C) equal to at least 20 percent of its total ADA; and

(iii)

In its application, have federally connected children identified under section 8003(a)(1)(A)-(G) who were eligible to be counted as the basis for payment under section 8003 equal to at least 50 percent of its total ADA.

(b)

If requested by an applicant LEA described in paragraph (a) of this section, the SEA follows the procedures in this section, in consultation with the LEA, to determine generally comparable LEAs using additional factors for the purpose of calculating and certifying an LCR for that LEA.

(c)

The SEA identifies—

(1)

The subgroup of generally comparable LEAs from the group identified under § 222.39(a)(2) (grouping by grade span/legal classification and size) that includes the applicant LEA; or

(2)

For an LEA described in paragraph (a) of this section that serves a different span of grades from all other LEAs in its State (and therefore cannot match any group of generally comparable LEAs under § 222.39(a)(2)), for purposes of this section only, a group using only legal classification and size as measured by ADA.

(d)

From the subgroup described in paragraph (c) of this section, the SEA then identifies 10 or more generally comparable LEAs that share one or more additional common factors of general comparability with the applicant LEA described in paragraph (a) of this section, as follows:

(1)

(i)

The SEA must consider one or more generally accepted, objectively defined factors that affect the applicant's cost of educating its children. Examples of such cost-related factors include location inside or outside an MSA, an unusually large geographical area or an economically depressed area, sparsity or density of population, and the percentage of its students who are from low-income families or who are children with disabilities, neglected or delinquent children, low-achieving children, or children with limited English proficiency.

(ii)

The SEA may not consider cost-related factors that can be varied at the discretion of the applicant LEA or its generally comparable LEAs or factors dependent on the wealth of the applicant LEA or its generally comparable LEAs. Examples of factors that may not be considered include special alternative curricular programs, pupil-teacher ratio, and per pupil expenditures.

(iii)

If an SEA proposes to use one or more special additional factors to determine generally comparable LEAs, the SEA must submit, with its annual submission of generally comparable data to the Department, its rationale for selecting the additional factor or factors and describe how they affect the cost of education in the LEA.

(2)

The SEA applies the factor or factors of general comparability identified under paragraph (d)(1)(i) of this section in one of the following ways in order to identify 10 or more generally comparable LEAs for the eligible applicant LEA, none of which may be significantly impacted LEAs:

(i)

The SEA identifies all of the LEAs in the group to which the eligible applicant LEA belongs under § 222.39(a)(2) that share the factor or factors. If the subgroup containing the eligible applicant LEA includes at least 10 other LEAs (excluding significantly impacted LEAs), it will be the eligible applicant LEA's new group of generally comparable LEAs. The SEA computes the LCR for the eligible applicant LEA using the data for all of the LEAs in the subgroup except the eligible applicant LEA.

(ii)

After the SEA identifies all of the LEAs in the group to which the eligible applicant LEA belongs under § 222.39(a)(2) that share the factor or factors, the SEA then systematically orders by ADA all of the LEAs in the group that includes the eligible applicant LEA. The SEA may further divide the ordered LEAs into subgroups by using logical division points (e.g., the median, quartiles, or standard deviations) or a continuous interval of the ordered LEAs (e.g., a percentage or a numerical range). If the subgroup containing the eligible applicant LEA includes at least 10 other LEAs (excluding significantly impacted LEAs), it will be the eligible applicant LEA's new group of generally comparable LEAs. The SEA computes the LCR for the eligible applicant LEA using the data for all of the LEAs in the subgroup except the eligible applicant LEA.

(iii)

The SEA may apply more than one factor of general comparability in identifying a new group of 10 or more generally comparable LEAs for the eligible applicant LEA. If the subgroup containing the eligible applicant LEA includes at least 10 other LEAs (excluding significantly impacted LEAs), it will be the eligible applicant LEA's new group of generally comparable LEAs. The SEA computes the LCR for the eligible applicant LEA using the data from all of the LEAs in the subgroup except the eligible applicant LEA.

(e)

(1)

Using the new group of generally comparable LEAs selected under paragraph (d) of this section, the SEA computes the LCR for the eligible applicant LEA according to the provisions of § 222.41.

(2)

The SEA certifies the resulting LCR by submitting that LCR to the Secretary and providing the Secretary a description of the additional factor or factors of general comparability and the data used to identify the new group of generally comparable LEAs.

(3)

The Secretary reviews the data submitted by the SEA, and accepts the LCR for the purpose of use under section 8003(b)(1)(C)(iii) in determining the LEA's maximum payment under section 8003 if the Secretary determines that it meets the purposes and requirements of the Act and this part.

Notes, amendments, and revision history

Amendments

[80 FR 33164, June 11, 2015, as amended at 81 FR 64743, Sept. 20, 2016]

Authority

Authority: 20 U.S.C. 7701-7714; Pub. L. 111-256, 124 Stat. 2643; unless otherwise noted.

Source

Source: 60 FR 50778, Sept. 29, 1995, unless otherwise noted.

Amendments

[80 FR 33164, June 11, 2015, as amended at 81 FR 64743, Sept. 20, 2016]

34 C.F.R. §§ 222.39–222.40

§222.39. How does a State educational agency identify generally comparable local educational agencies for local contribution rate purposes?

Amendments

Authority

Source

Amendments

§222.40. What procedures does a State educational agency use for certain local educational agencies to determine generally comparable local educational agencies using additional factors, for local contribution rate purposes?

Amendments

Authority

Source

Amendments

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